Are Drain Systems Worth the Price?

Have you ever wondered why you hear foundation companies advertise on the radio or television? They talk about how they can fix cracks in your floors, sidewalks, driveways – really anywhere around your home. The sad reality is that the average foundation repair will cost a homeowner as much as $4200, which is why it is important to understand what causes foundation cracks so that you can prevent them beforehand by installing drain systems.

Homes without gutters don’t have a safeguard to move the flow of water away from the foundation of your home. When rainwater comes down, it naturally flows over the roof and around the foundation of your home. Gutters are the tools that help guide water to flow around your home and then move away from the foundation, where it can pool and begin to erode the soil, which leads to foundation cracks. When the water pools around the foundation of your home, dirt, sand, and other fill start to compact tighter and tighter, which will eventually lead to the sinking of your foundation as the water erodes under the foundation of your home.

Gutters all flow to something called a downspout. Downspouts help to move water away from your foundation, save your flower beds, and control where you want water to flow. When they are placed properly, they can help to guide water specifically where it is useful and can’t do any damage to the foundation of your home. Downspouts are awesome and a good tool, but for some homes, they are not enough. Some homes require the addition of a drain.

We install 4-inch PVC drains directly from the downspouts so that they run out into the yard. Sometimes they can be 10 feet out; sometimes they have to be 100 feet out; the idea is to move the water away from your home and save the foundation. When we use drains effectively, they help solve the problem of soil compaction and erosion that can lead to expensive cracks in your foundation. The cost of a small drain is around $275 and up, depending on how far it needs to go. But when you compare that with the average cost of a repair being upwards of thousands of dollars, you realize that drains are well worth the price and the headache for foundation crack prevention.

Gutters are highly critical to guiding water issues around your foundation. They lead to downspouts that keep the flow of water away from your home. But for some homeowners, gutter systems are not enough to effectively reduce compaction and soil erosion. The small cost of drain systems pales in comparison to the cost for a foundation repair. When possible, prevention is always cheaper and easier than repairing after the fact. If you need a drain to help with your water flow problem, contact Gutter Boyz today – we will devise a water flow pattern via the use of drain systems that will help to save your foundation.